Very grand win for Olivia, to solidify her game and ranking, going into the hornet's nest of 2013. And, just to underscore a pertinent point, oudinUSA, regarding Alexandra Stevenson (or any athlete in the public sphere): commentators DO have the right to critique their games, their fitness, their motives, and they have the right to speculate about these issues as well. Sports commentators have been doing it for decades, often in very abrasive fashion, but that is sports commentary, and now sports commentary has moved to the realm of blogs and forums ... Where all sorts of opinions emerge.

Deal with it.

Stevenson, above all, is begging for critique just by remaining out there within the context of a bizarre comeback trajectory. Is my opinion about her public career better than yours? Maybe, maybe not.

That is the point of "forums" ... People express their opinions (sometimes strong opinions) about a players game and public persona.

This is the very serious problem with forums and commentators and moderators: the bowl is open for opinions, and all opinions must be welcome (within guidelines) but these forums need to equip their moderators to appropriately discern between "pointed criticism" of a public player, and the very wimpy, whiny, weak attitude that critique="hating" on a player, which is an easy, foolish, and overused term.

I have seen some foul, foul language and libelous insults hurled on these forums, with nary a moderator to step-in, and I have seen some of the best commentators castigated because they bring insight and, yes, CRITICISM of players that some people cannot interpret, handle, or accept.

A balance needs to be maintained, certainly, but let all ill-equipped moderators be put on alert that *arbitrary and/or deliberate censoring* of public-sphere commentary will be met with aggressive legal action -- possibly precedent-setting legal action -- in cases wherein moderators cannot distinguish between commentary and libel, among other things.

Seriously -- the ESPN host-company will have to answer to censoring shenanigans of the ill-equipped.

Otherwise ... Learn to deal with harsh, incisive opinions that are NOT libelous, people.

If anyone wants to censor anyone in that (otherwise normal) regard, they had better be prepared in the legal realm.

Regarding Alexandra Stevenson: I shall reiterate -- in my opinion, her "Australian Campaign" smacked of desperation in a career haunted by desperation on numerous levels: all well-attested by a multitude of extraneous sources from 1999-2012. In my observation, she went to Oz in a last-ditch effort to exploit extraordinarily weak fields because she could not qualify for 25K events on her own continent.

She never made it past the quarters of either 25K she played. She has, moreover, withdrawn from the remaining Oz challenger/bush-league events. If any moderator disputes my right to make these "astonishing" comments on this forum, in whatever way, be prepared for a class-action lawsuit of the host companies, with names taken.

Very grand win for Olivia, to solidify her game and ranking, going into the hornet's nest of 2013. And, just to underscore a pertinent point, oudinUSA, regarding Alexandra Stevenson (or any athlete in the public sphere): commentators DO have the right to critique their games, their fitness, their motives, and they have the right to speculate about these issues as well. Sports commentators have been doing it for decades, often in very abrasive fashion, but that is sports commentary, and now sports commentary has moved to the realm of blogs and forums ... Where all sorts of opinions emerge.

Deal with it.

Stevenson, above all, is begging for critique just by remaining out there within the context of a bizarre comeback trajectory. Is my opinion about her public career better than yours? Maybe, maybe not.

That is the point of "forums" ... People express their opinions (sometimes strong opinions) about a players game and public persona.

This is the very serious problem with forums and commentators and moderators: the bowl is open for opinions, and all opinions must be welcome (within guidelines) but these forums need to equip their moderators to appropriately discern between "pointed criticism" of a public player, and the very wimpy, whiny, weak attitude that critique="hating" on a player, which is an easy, foolish, and overused term.

I have seen some foul, foul language and libelous insults hurled on these forums, with nary a moderator to step-in, and I have seen some of the best commentators castigated because they bring insight and, yes, CRITICISM of players that some people cannot interpret, handle, or accept.

A balance needs to be maintained, certainly, but let all ill-equipped moderators be put on alert that *arbitrary and/or deliberate censoring* of public-sphere commentary will be met with aggressive legal action -- possibly precedent-setting legal action -- in cases wherein moderators cannot distinguish between commentary and libel, among other things.

Seriously -- the ESPN host-company will have to answer to censoring shenanigans of the ill-equipped.

Otherwise ... Learn to deal with harsh, incisive opinions that are NOT libelous, people.

If anyone wants to censor anyone in that (otherwise normal) regard, they had better be prepared in the legal realm.

Regarding Alexandra Stevenson: I shall reiterate -- in my opinion, her "Australian Campaign" smacked of desperation in a career haunted by desperation on numerous levels: all well-attested by a multitude of extraneous sources from 1999-2012. In my observation, she went to Oz in a last-ditch effort to exploit extraordinarily weak fields because she could not qualify for 25K events on her own continent.

She never made it past the quarters of either 25K she played. She has, moreover, withdrawn from the remaining Oz challenger/bush-league events. If any moderator disputes my right to make these "astonishing" comments on this forum, in whatever way, be prepared for a class-action lawsuit of the host companies, with names taken.

Very grand win for Olivia, to solidify her game and ranking, going into the hornet's nest of 2013. And, just to underscore a pertinent point, oudinUSA, regarding Alexandra Stevenson (or any athlete in the public sphere): commentators DO have the right to critique their games, their fitness, their motives, and they have the right to speculate about these issues as well. Sports commentators have been doing it for decades, often in very abrasive fashion, but that is sports commentary, and now sports commentary has moved to the realm of blogs and forums ... Where all sorts of opinions emerge.

Deal with it.

Stevenson, above all, is begging for critique just by remaining out there within the context of a bizarre comeback trajectory. Is my opinion about her public career better than yours? Maybe, maybe not.

That is the point of "forums" ... People express their opinions (sometimes strong opinions) about a players game and public persona.

This is the very serious problem with forums and commentators and moderators: the bowl is open for opinions, and all opinions must be welcome (within guidelines) but these forums need to equip their moderators to appropriately discern between "pointed criticism" of a public player, and the very wimpy, whiny, weak attitude that critique="hating" on a player, which is an easy, foolish, and overused term.

I have seen some foul, foul language and libelous insults hurled on these forums, with nary a moderator to step-in, and I have seen some of the best commentators castigated because they bring insight and, yes, CRITICISM of players that some people cannot interpret, handle, or accept.

A balance needs to be maintained, certainly, but let all ill-equipped moderators be put on alert that *arbitrary and/or deliberate censoring* of public-sphere commentary will be met with aggressive legal action -- possibly precedent-setting legal action -- in cases wherein moderators cannot distinguish between commentary and libel, among other things.

Seriously -- the ESPN host-company will have to answer to censoring shenanigans of the ill-equipped.

Otherwise ... Learn to deal with harsh, incisive opinions that are NOT libelous, people.

If anyone wants to censor anyone in that (otherwise normal) regard, they had better be prepared in the legal realm.

Regarding Alexandra Stevenson: I shall reiterate -- in my opinion, her "Australian Campaign" smacked of desperation in a career haunted by desperation on numerous levels: all well-attested by a multitude of extraneous sources from 1999-2012. In my observation, she went to Oz in a last-ditch effort to exploit extraordinarily weak fields because she could not qualify for 25K events on her own continent.

She never made it past the quarters of either 25K she played. She has, moreover, withdrawn from the remaining Oz challenger/bush-league events. If any moderator disputes my right to make these "astonishing" comments on this forum, in whatever way, be prepared for a class-action lawsuit of the host companies, with names taken.